I got you babe
by wolfypuppypiles
Summary: Keith finds it hard to open up to people and let them help. But then he gets hurt and he doesn't really have a choice because Lance is pushy and wont take no for an answer
1. Chapter 1

"Good work team. I know there were a few hiccups in the plan but you all did your part in helping free that planet from Galra. You should be proud."

Shiro's praise was answered by smiles and pats on the backs from the team of paladins. Pidge was already fiddling with one of her technical projects, a tablet in her hands as she tapped away, probably planning up some new modifications for something. She didn't look up from her work as she spoke in a bored tone.

"It was a tiny planet; we couldn't even land all our lions on it. It was more like a moon of a planet. It's hardly worth celebrating."

Hunk was already on his way to the kitchen, in search of food as he replied.

"I think the people living there were pretty happy about it. I'd say we've earned a celebration dinner. I'll get started on that."

Lance pulled his helmet off, looking pleased with himself.

"We really should have stuck around after those Galra ships left. The little people on that moon planet might have thrown me-I mean us a parade!"

Shiro rolled his eyes even as he smiled.

"We don't do this for the thanks Lance. We're defenders of the universe. I think the title is its own reward."

"Yeah, yeah but parades have music and dances and streamers. Plus sometimes they hand out little candies and I haven't had anything sweeter than that gross space juice stuff since we left earth. I need my sugar man."

Keith pulled off his helmet, shaking his hair out as he started walking to his room.

"What is it with you and parades?"

Lance started following the red paladin down the hall, pulling his own helmet off to carry under his arm.

"I just think it would be cool if we got to- hey wait, Keith, hold up. Where are you going?"

They had gotten to the cabins and the dark haired boy was already half way in his room, ready to shut the door as soon as Lance let go of it.

"I'm trying to get away from your stupid as soon as I can." Really, he was drained. The Galra had been using the planet as a gas station for their ships. Making repairs and picking up supplies, there weren't many guards but Keith had taken them all on his own as the others handled the Galra ships that tried to defend their stolen planet.

Keith was good in combat and he enjoyed it but today he was left tired and a little dizzy from their mission. All he wanted was a shower and a nap.

Lance pulled his team mates door open further, stopping Keith with a hand to his arm.

"No, dude, I mean.."

He trailed off.

Keith sighed, looking at the boy with half lidded eyes. But whatever joking expression he was expecting to see on Lance's face there was only concern. He was pointing to Keith's back, which was stupid because how the hell was he supposed to look at his own back? But then he saw the blood on the floor.

"Oh."

Now that he thought about it there was a warm, wetness underneath his paladin armour and his back did hurt a little.

Lance's mouth hung open as he lent closer for a look at the wound.

"Oh? That's all you can say? How are you not feeling that? It looks like someone stabbed you."

Well there was that one Galra guard that Keith had fought off, it had momentarily gotten a hold of his bayard when he was on the ground. And, yep, he must have been stabbed.

Keith shrugged.

"I think it was one of the guards I took down BY MY SELF. Because you guys were busy."

Lance rolled his eyes.

"If you needed help you could have asked for it you dummy."

"I didn't need help; I was fine on my own."

"Obviously not!"

"I took them all out! We saved the planet!"

"It was a tiny planet and you got stabbed in the process! Why do you have to so stubborn about everything?"

"Why do you care?"

"Because you're a part of this team and we need you! We can't form Voltron if you're dead, Keith!"

The red paladin groaned and stormed into his room, however the yelling had worn him out further and the room began to spin.

Lance was still yelling at him.

"You always have to be so competitive, always have to be Shiro's favourite. You won't even let anybody help you when you're bleeding out on the floor."

"I'm not-!"

Oh. He was on the floor. Keith let out a low growl as he realized he was on his knees, his legs unwilling to hold him up any longer. Lance came to stand in front of him, reaching out a hand to pull his team mate up. Keith wasn't having it, smacking the other boys hand away as he swayed.

"Get out of my room Lance."

The blue paladin sighed, looking down at the other with a mixture of irritation and pity.

"You need to get to the healing pods and you can't make it there by yourself. Just let me help you."

Keith's hand shot out at that, grabbing onto Lance's outstretched wrist. He was so dizzy he had to shut his eyes to keep out the blurring colours of the room. He could feel Lance tense as he grabbed his arm, remaining stiff and still as if moving might scare the injured boy off.

"No. No healing pods."

Lance tried again, this time with more concern in his voice. Keith was going to pass out if he didn't get the bleeding stopped. He needed to be in a healing pod but the usually sombre boy was trembling, his voice pleading as he insisted he not be put into cryo sleep.

"Keith, you're bleeding out."

The dark haired boy shook his head, slumping further to the floor, his grip on Lance's wrist slipping to grip his hand instead. His gloved fingers were clumsy and soft on Lance's, as if he wasn't aware he was gripping the blue paladin's fingers.

"No healing pods. Please, I can't be frozen in those things. Alone. I can't."

Lance softened at the boy's half muttered words. After living alone in a dessert he had finally been thrust into a family, Lance could understand why the prospect of being alone would be a grim and unwelcome one.

He knelt down in front of the panting boy, gripping his shoulders to keep him from slipping to the floor. Keith's hand was still gripping Lance's arm, as if for reassurance.

Lances voice was soft, understanding.

"You'll be asleep the whole time. You won't know any time has passed until you wake up. It'll be fine."

Keith shook his head, locks of hair swaying slightly as they hung in front of his lowered eyes.

"No. Please just…help me clean it up. Coran has that magic alien healing stuff just.. we can put a bandage on it or something. I don't want the others to know, they'll put me in a pod."

Lance froze, blinking. Keith had said please. Like, a few times now. And, blame it on the blood loss or whatever but the boy was actually sharing. Like, feelings and stuff. Lance couldn't deny his plea for help. He sighed.

"Fine. I'll help you. Let's get this armour off first so I can see what the damage is."

Keith blew a relieved breath out, slumping a bit further towards the floor.

"Okay."

Lance shuffled around, placing his hands underneath the other boy's arms and heaving him onto his feet. Keith kept his eyes closed as he was dragged towards the bed, landing on the mattress with a huff and a groan of pain.

"Sorry, sorry."

Lance had gentle hands for someone so usually filled with energy. Lance didn't often sit still, being naturally rambunctious and troublesome but Keith was hardly jostled as Lance removed his armour. The red paladin sat, exhausted, on his bed and allowed himself to be moved around by his team mate, Lance occasionally lifting his arm or tilting a leg in order to slip the pieces off.

Once done, Lance sat behind him, gasping a little as he saw the wound.

"Dios, there's a lot of blood Keith. Luckily your armour was pierced right through so there aren't any pieces stuck in it. Hey, I'm gonna get something to clean it with, don't fall asleep alright? I'll be right back."

Keith grunted and felt the bed shift as Lance left. The heavy click of his boots faded out the door and down the hallway, leaving the room in silence. Great. He hadn't wanted to be put in a healing pod because he'd be frozen and trapped alone, and now here he was bleeding, in pain and alone.

Lance was probably going to get Shiro or something. Keith really didn't want him to. On the one hand it would be nice for Shiro to be here because he'd say something like "Everything's gonna be okay, Buddy. We'll get you fixed up in no time." And he'd take care of him and make him feel better. But on the other hand he'd do it with that sad concerned tone of his and he'd probably be upset that Keith hadn't told him.

"Why wouldn't you tell me you were hurt? You have to trust me Keith, you have to trust this team. We're all here for you but we can't help you if you're so determined to shut yourself out."

Ugh, imaginary Shiro was right. Keith knew he should trust his team more but being around people was hard enough after so long on his own, trusting them was a whole other matter entirely.

He liked the team. They had each other's backs and they cared about each other. They cared about Keith. But every time he'd had a family in the past they had been taken away from him. Or they'd left him for some important space mission that they only came back from after a year.

"Hey! Keith! Mierda despertarse! Wake up!"

Keith's eyes snapped open as two warm hands gripped his shoulders, shaking him a little. Lance was sitting in front of him, his face pinched with worry. He sighed, and closed his eyes for a moment before opening them and shaking his head.

"I said don't fall asleep."

Keith blinked at the boy, his heart still thumping erratically from the abrupt wake up call.

"Sorry."

Lance glanced at him again, a nameless look in his eyes. Keith couldn't tell what he was thinking so just stared back at those bright eyes until they looked away.

"I got some supplies from the infirmary."

His voice was quieter now, gentle again as he had been before. He moved to sit behind his team mate, pulling packages open and sorting supplies.

"I'll have to clean it first which might be painful, it looks pretty deep. I'd give you some pain killers but I don't really like the idea of you falling asleep so quick after losing all that blood. That's also why I took a little long, you left a trail of blood from the hanger. Didn't want anyone finding it."

Keith made a noise to acknowledge he'd heard. He really wanted to sleep, but apparently Lance knew best.

"How do you know how to do this?" He wasn't sure what 'this' meant. Cleaning wounds? Hiding blood trails? Taking care of someone he had sworn was his rival?

Lance's voice was soft and close as he leant down, pressing a wet antiseptic swab around the gash on Keith's back.

"I used to be a life guard at the beach near my house. You have to take a first aid course to do it, cause you know, saving people usually requires knowing how to actually save them."

"Really?" Keith meant about the lifesaving but of course Lance replied with. "Yeah handing a drowning person to someone that doesn't know what they're doing is generally frowned upon."

Keith made a noise between a snort and a sigh. He could practically feel the half smile Lance no doubt had on as he relented.

"Yeah, I was a life guard. I grew up near the water so it was really the best job ever. I got paid to sit on a beach all summer."

Keith flinched as the antiseptic stung the cut, Lance's hand pressing against his back comfortingly as he mumbled an apology.

"Ever saved someone?"

Lance's hand paused momentarily before continuing on, carefully cleaning the wound as well as the blood from the paladin's skin over his back.

"No."

There seemed to be a story there, a 'I did my best but they didn't make it' kind of story but Keith didn't push. If Lance didn't want to tell him he didn't have to.

Keith wasn't very good at making people feel better, wasn't used to having to, but the silence seemed to indicate that he should say something to make Lance feel better.

"You know…."

"I know what? Okay, this might feel weird, the bottle says it helps speed up the healing process but I'm not entirely sure what its gonna do. Hold still."

Keith did as instruct though he was a little wary about the idea of Lance using unknown alien medicine on him. There was a hissing sound, like something being sprayed out of a can and then a warm tingling mist settled over Keith's back, where the gash was. The wound went numb, feeling warm and sticky.

Lance pressed careful fingers around the wound, peering closely at the gash.

"It's stopped bleeding, so I'd say that's a win for the healing mist. I'll bandage it anyway, to keep anything from getting into it. What were you saying earlier?"

Keith blinked, rolling his shoulders a little as he tried to get used to the strange numb warmth on his back.

"Uh, just that, you help save people every day. Entire planets and races of people that have been under the Galra empire for thousands of years so… Shiro is right. You should be proud."

This whole comforting others thing was hard, especially since he couldn't see Lance's face to tell if he was doing it right. But Keith could hear the slight smile in Lances voice as he replied.

"Thanks. I am. It's pretty cool being able to help people every day. I just wish my family knew what I was doing. And that I'm okay. Raise your arms a bit."

Damn. Keith thought he was done with the comforting thing. He had nothing else to say to so he simply lifted his arms to allow Lance's deft hands to spin bandages around his chest, securing the gauze he had placed over the wound.

Once Lance was finished he stood from the bed, Keith watching him silently as he gathered the stolen medical supplies. There was a lot of blood soaked gauze and Keith felt a little sick at the sight of his blood smeared on Lances hands and paladin suit.

"I'm gonna get rid of these and clean up a bit. You should eat something."

Lance disappeared into the bathroom and Keith looked around his room, realizing he had some rock things they'd found on one of the planets they'd visited. The rocks were blue and tasted like cookies but had a texture more like carrots. Hunk had discovered their edibility and everyone had grabbed as many as they could and stashed them away.

He was trying to get them out of his cupboard when Lance came back in.

"Hey, what are you doing! Get back in bed!"

Keith let himself be pushed back onto his bed, eyebrows drawn down over his eyes as he watched Lance tut at him with a disapproving look.

"You said I should eat something. I was getting those cookie rocks out of the cupboard."

Lance went over and got the bowl of the blue rocks out, bringing them over to the bed with a glass of water.

"That was more of a mental note to myself, not a suggestion that you get up and move around. You lost a lot of blood, you could pass out or reopen the wound if you don't stay still."

Keith said nothing, taking a blue rock and watching Lance frown at the bowl.

"You can have one."

Lance looked up, surprised.

"What?"

"You can have one." Keith pointed to the bowl, not understanding why Lance wasn't getting it.

"Oh, thanks yeah. Sorry, I'm just really tired. That battle with the Galra took ages and then there was worrying about you and-"

This caught Keith by surprise. His face went blank, utterly confused.

"You were worried about me?"

Lance rolled his eyes, a half smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Yes, you idiot. People worry about other people when they've been stabbed you know."

Keith narrowed his eyes, the space cookie paused half way towards his mouth.

"But, I'm fine. You fixed it."

Lance laughed and pushed the blue mound to Keith's mouth with a finger.

"Yes, very observant of you. Now eat your rock."

Keith reluctantly obeyed, still eyeing the blue paladin as he tiredly ate his own space rock.

Once Lance was satisfied that Keith had eaten enough blue cookies and drunken all his water he carefully helped him lie down in a position that wouldn't hurt his back.

"You warm enough?"

Keith hummed an affirmative as he lay on his chest, waiting patiently as Lance tucked his blankets around him. He expected the other boy to leave once he'd said goodnight but Lance simply yawned and pulled a chair up to the side of Keith's bed, plopping himself down in the seat and leaning back as if he was in for a long stay.

"What are you doing?"

Lance rubbed his eyes, sounding tired as he started pulling his gear off with much less grace then when he'd taken it off Keith.

"Sitting."

"Why?"

Lance tossed his armour to the corner and slumped back down in the chair.

"Because if I went back to my own room and left you to sleep on your own I'd worry about you slipping into a coma from blood loss or something. Or a head wound, did we check you for head trauma? I probably should have done that."

Keith frowned, ignoring the other boys rambling.

"That's stupid."

"Yeah well, I can't help it. I just had your blood all over me and I read about people not waking up after blood loss and trauma and-"

Keith interrupted, shaking his head a little as it rested heavily in his pillows.

"No, I mean, you're tired. You should sleep."

Lance shrugged.

"I'll sleep in this chair."

Keith started shuffling on the bed.

"No that's dumb too, you can just share my bed."

Lance's face seemed to redden at that and he seemed suddenly more awake.

"What? I-uh."

Keith rolled onto his side a little, taking up the side of the bed closest to the wall in order to leave enough room for Lance.

"Come on. It'll be fine, I don't snore or anything."

Lance, still blushing, finally got some words out.

"I, uh.. ."

Kicking his shoes off the paladin carefully climbed in the bed, accepting Keith's offered half of the blankets. They weren't big beds and Lance could feel the heat of Keith's body as he lay beside him. Lance lay stiff and tense on the mattress, not wanting to move and jostle Keith. Or brush against him in a weirdly intimate manner because they were sharing a bed now and they could totally accidently press against each other in their sleep.

"Goodnight Keith."

Keith sighed, tiredly and moved softly under the blankets, getting comfortable on his stomach in the small space available.

"Goodnight Lance."

Keith's breathing evened out quickly, falling asleep after the exhausting day but Lance waited, though his eyes dropped.

He was in Keith's bed. Keith was grumpy and secretive and he had not only let Lance take care of him but now he was sharing a bed with him? Weird day. Good, weird day.

Lance snuck a peek over at Keith's face in the dim light. His dark hair was splayed out on the pillow and fell around his face and over his eyes as usual. Lance, unable to help himself, lifted a careful hand to brush back the hair covering Keith's face.

Keith had long eyelashes. That might have been a weird first thing to think but he did. His eyes were closed and his cheek was pressed to the pillows in a way that made his lips pout slightly and god he was adorable. Lance smiled a little at this softer, innocent side of Keith.

He knew he didn't hate the red paladin as much as he made out but he didn't know what to do about actually liking the guy. How stupid was that? Having a slight, almost, maybe crush on someone just because of their stupid hair and their low silky voice. And the way they moved through combat, as light and graceful as if it were a choreographed dance. Not to mention that beautiful smile that only came out once every three hundred years and a laugh that made Lance feel like if he didn't get to kiss those pretty lips he might never breathe again.

Damn it.

He sighed at his own stupidity and closed his eyes, allowing himself to fall asleep in Keith's bed.


	2. Chapter 2

The first thing Keith felt when he woke up was the rise and fall of the mattress. It was also warm and solid, and the most comfortable and snuggly thing he'd ever had the pleasure of lying on. He sighed happily, still half asleep, as snuggled further into the warmth. Then the mattresses' arms tightened around him.

Keith's eyes snapped open as he held his breath. Mattresses' didn't have arms. He was laying on Lance. The blue paladin's arms were tight and warm around him, holding him to his chest where Keith's head was resting on his shoulder. He could hear Lance's heartbeat and feel the rise and fall of his breath as he snored lightly.

It was comfortable for sure and Keith had wanted for so long to be in Lance's arms but the blue Paladin wouldn't want this surely. He'd wake up and push Keith off him with a snarky remark, probably taking the first opportunity to tell the team that Keith liked to snuggle. Which was true but they didn't need to know that.

Lance hadn't been that way last night though. He'd been kind and gentle and had acted as if he really cared. Keith wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation, he hadn't known what he'd been thinking when he offered to share his bed with Lance, or let him take his armor off. In the number of times he'd imagined Lance undressing him none of them had been to patch up a wound.

Keith sat up a little, not enough to pull himself from the other boy's arms or warm chest but enough to sneak a peek at the sleeping paladins face. Oh god, he was adorable when he slept. His mouth was slightly open, those usually smiling lips soft and damn kissable in the low light. His hair was messy and ruffled from sleep and being this close meant Keith could see every one of Lance's perfect freckles as they lay scattered over his nose and cheeks. If he wasn't this close they would have blended right into his dark skin, but here they were tiny and beautiful as constellations.

Keith was so close to the other boy's face, he could have stolen a kiss and went right on sleeping. Lance would never have to know. But Keith wouldn't do that. He wouldn't kiss someone that didn't want it, didn't want him.

He suddenly hated himself for getting so close. Lance had been pitying him. That was it, or being a good team mate. Maybe Shiro had made him help.

Keith grumbled under his breath as he tried to pull himself away from Lance. His back still hurt a little, burning when he moved, and Lance didn't seem to want to let him go. The other boy grumbled in his sleep, tugging Keith closer to him as he tried to roll over.

Keith froze, body going rigid as Lance shifted underneath him. Keith was on top of his team mate, one of his legs between Lance's as he practically straddled the other. Now their faces were so close together Keith could feel each warm puff of air the came from Lances pink lips.

He had no idea what to do. This was his room he couldn't just run out and hide until Lance left. Or could he?

Oh god, Lance was moving again. The blue paladin was sighing, eyelids fluttering as he started to wake. Shit, that the hell was Keith supposed to do?

Lance's eyes opened and his sleepy smile froze as his sight adjusted. Keith's terrified face was inches away from his. His beautiful eyes wide open, their noses barely brushing against each other in a morning eskimo kiss.

Well, what a pleasant sight to wake up to.

Lance's mouth fell open in confusion, Keith's eyes immediately drifting to the warm lips.

"Umm…..good morning?"

Keith's eyes came back up to meet Lance's, face flushing in embarrassment before his eyebrows came down.

"This is my bed." He was only grumpy because he was being defensive. He didn't want the other boy thinking anything happened. Lance's arms were still around him and slowly released his hold, hands sliding across his back to splay against his shoulder blades as the red paladin panted.

God, why did he have to touch him like that? Keith could feel his strong hands and the wide palms, holding him as he lay on his chest.

Lance was trying very hard not to think anything inappropriate while Keith was on top of him this way but he was so close, his hair falling around them to frame his adorable blushing face. He could feel the red paladins back rising and falling under his hands, the strong muscles in his shoulders moving quietly against him.

"I know. You told me I could sleep here, remember? You might not actually. You lost a lot of blood."

Keith didn't say anything, seemingly frozen in Lance's arms. Their eyes were still met and Keith seemed to be leaning a little closer, the tips of their noses brushing and Lance couldn't help his eyes flicking down to stare at those stupidly kissable lips as they lay slightly open, Keith's breath coming from them in quiet pants.

"Does it feel better?"

Lance's breath was coming quicker to match Keith's, their chests moving against each other. Keith seemed confused about the question, his dark eyebrows coming down over his bright eyes as his gaze drifted over Lance's face.

"Does what feel better?"

"The stab wound?" Lance's voice was taking on a higher pitch now because Keith was pressed against him and he could feel the boy's hands on his chest. Was he going to kiss him?

"Oh yeah. Thanks for helping me with that."

Keith was definitely staring at his mouth. Was this happening?

"No problem."

Lance was breathing too fast and suddenly Keith's lips were brushing against his own. Holy crap, he could taste his breath in his mouth; the lingering scent of the blue alien cookies sweet and familiar.

Lance's muscles stiffened under Keith as their faces came closer, Keith finally taking Lance's mouth in his own. It was a soft, kiss. One taste of his pink lips, a single shared breath.

Keith suddenly realized what he was doing and pulled back, searching Lance's eyes for answers.

Was that you or did I do that? Did you like it or do you hate me now? Are you even breathing?

Lances face was red, chest frozen beneath Keith's weight, lips still slightly puckered from the kiss.

Keith pulled back, Lance's hands falling away from his back as if he were something untouchable. The red paladin rolled off the other boy as Lance sprung from the bed, jostling Keith's injury and eliciting from him a grunt of pain.

Lance winced as he grabbed up his armor as quickly as he could.

"Sorry, sorry. I'm gonna um… I have to-"

He ran from the room, leaving Keith alone in the still warm bed.

"Well, shit."


	3. Chapter 3

Lance sprinted down the hall, heart thundering in his chest as he tried not to drop his armor.

His mind was racing, trying to process everything that had happened but his stupid brain just kept screaming at him, "YOU KISSED KEITH!"

His own room was just a few doors down from Keith's and he was almost to the door when Hunk's door opened and the yellow paladin stepped out, just in time for Lance to crash into him.

"Woah! What's going on? Damn, that hurt. Are you okay? Wait. Did you just come from Keith's room?"

Lance got to his feet before his friend could ask anymore loud questions. Throwing his armor into Hunks room, the boy grabbed Hunk by an arm and yanked him in, closing the door behind them.

Lance started pacing, Hunk still picking himself off from the floor and righting one of his pot plants that Lance's armor had knocked over.

"Oh, Dios mío , ¿qué voy a hacer?" _Oh, my god, what am I going to do?_

The engineer splayed his hands in front of him, trying to placate the obviously upset pilot.

"Dude, what's going on? And you know I don't speak Spanish."

Lance flung his arms out, eyes wide as he scream-whispered to Hunk.

"¿Él me besó?" _He kissed me?_

Hunk sighed, trying to be patient. Lance had a habit of reverting to his mother tongue when he was particularly upset or passionate about something.

"In English dude. Please."

Lance shook his head, eyes scrunched shut as he tried to translate his brain into something Hunk could understand.

"Keith kissed me!"

Hunk froze, eyes widening as his mouth fell open. Lance kept rambling.

"Well I think he did. Maybe it was me? I don't know who did what but he was on top so I couldn't exactly move much. He woke up first and it was his bed, he was the one that ask me to stay so I think it was him? Oh , dios le sabía tan bueno. Y esos ojos!" _Oh, god he tasted so good. And those eyes!_

Hunk was still frozen and Lance paused as he looked at him.

"Hunk? Buddy are you okay?"

The yellow paladin blinked owlishly, a slow smile creeping on to his face.

"You and Keith..?"

His sly tone suggested much more than a kiss and Lance quickly interrupted him.

"NO! No, of course not. He got stabbed in the mission yesterday and-"

Hunk's eyebrows shot to the roof, his protective nature coming in full force.

"What! Why didn't he tell anyone? Is he okay? You shouldn't be sleeping with someone that's been stabbed you should have gotten him to one of the med pods!"

The engineer was already pulling the door open, ready to go take care of his friend but Lance was quick, grabbing the larger boy and yanking him back inside.

"No, no, no. He's fine, I helped patch him up. And before you tell me off again, I tried to get him to a pod but he refused. I think he's scared of them. And we only kissed!"

Hunk crossed his arms, trying to understand.

"So you, the one that said, multiple times, that Keith was your rival and mortal enemy, helped patch him up? And kept it a secret from the rest of us?"

Lance was pacing again.

"I don't hate him. I'm competitive but he's our friend, he's part of team Voltron. So yeah, I helped him."

"And when did the kissing come into all of this?"

Lance bit his lip, trying to down play the story as much as he could.

"I patched him up and got him to bed but I couldn't just leave him cause of the blood loss or whatever. I was worried about something going wrong if I left him by himself. But I was tired so he insisted I share his bed."

Hunk's smile grew and he bounced his eyebrows teasingly.

"Ohh really? Insisted?"

Lance blushed.

"Yes! But it was just him being nice. And he was all confused from the pain of the injury and blood loss. We went to sleep like normal, just two dudes sharing a bed with plenty of space between us."

"Uh huh..and?"

"And then I sort of woke up with him on top of me. I think we were cuddling."

Hunk went to make an aww sound but Lance shook his head and spoke faster.

"I woke up and he was right there, like, inches from my face and my hands were…he kept getting closer and closer and then…."

He stretched his hands out as if presenting something.

"It happened."

Hunk was still smiling. "He kissed you."

"Yeah."

"And what did you do? Did you kiss him back? Did you ask him out? Are you two dating now?"

Lance slumped down on Hunks bed, covering his face with his hands.

"I ran away."

"What!? You ran away?"

Lance threw his hands up and flopped back to lie on the mattress.

"I panicked okay?"

"You've been crushing on this guy since you first saw him at the academy and the moment he kisses you, you run away?!"

Lance sprung back up, eyebrows drawn down over his eyes.

"What? I have not!"

The yellow paladin sighed and took a seat next to his friend.

"Sorry dude, but you have. You invented this rivalry thing because you were too butt headed to realize you liked him."

"I think the expression is hard headed."

"Not for you."

Lance blushed a deep red, the tips of his ears burning as he glared at the floor.

"Fine. Maybe I had a slight….crush on the guy. It was his fault anyway with his stupid mullet and that dumb jacket. He was the best at combat and he was always training so hard and…damn it. I have a crush on him."

"Admitting it is the first step."

"I hate him."

"You just admitted you like him."

Lance lay back on the bed again, crossing his arms as he sulked.

"Yeah but its his fault and I hate him for it."

Hunk patted the boys shoulder.

"It's okay buddy. He kissed you, so he probably feels the same way. The liking part not the hate bit. Why don't you just go talk to him about it?"

Lance snorted out a laugh.

"Oh yeah, that's a great idea. I'll just swing in and be all "Hey, you kissed me and I ran away. Wanna get some lunch sometime?""

"Well, maybe don't say it like that."

"Ughhh, why is this happening to me?"


	4. new chapter

(thank you so much to everyone that commented or sent me such lovely messages I loved them all so much and they really help! Sorry this took so long anyway i hope you enjoy it! BTW my sisters surgery went really well an shes doing great!)

Keith was in a bad mood. Though this wasn't his usual grump. He was just ….sad. Lance hadn't talked to him since that morning, in fact he'd been resolutely avoiding him. Every time the blue paladin scurried off to avoid him in the hallway, or chose the furthest chair from him at dinner, the worse Keith's mood grew.

He was so confused, he thought Lance had liked him. Or at least cared? The boy wasn't one for sharing feelings but he wasn't blind to those of others and he had seen the way Lance had looked at him. His cheeks had been pink and his lips were so soft.

But it seemed Lance's old one-way rivalry was back. The red paladin blamed it on himself. His impulsive behavior was exactly why the red lion had chosen him, and he didn't always think things through before he acted. He had thought Lance had wanted it, and had wanted it himself, so he dived in head first and now he was even further from the kid then before.

Keith glared at his space goo, trying to ignore the fact that Lance had chosen the seat at the furthest end of the table. He knew everyone else had noticed too. Hunk kept nudging Lance and giving him admonishing looks while Shiro and Allura just looked uncomfortable.

"Keith? Could we talk for a bit?" Shiro's voice was kind and Keith was grateful to finally have someone to talk to about it. Shiro gave a nod to Allura before following Keith into the hallway.

Keith leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, attempting to hide his pout behind his hair. But Shiro was patient and simply leaned against the wall beside him.

"So what's up bud? You've been quieter than usual. Something going on?"

Keith glanced back towards the door where everyone was still eating.

"Lance hates me again."

Shiro was patient and calm as ever.

"I don't think he hates you. He's just stubborn and it's sometimes hard to get along with new people when you miss your family so much. He misses home and he's not used to living somewhere so-"

"I kissed him."

Shiro froze for a moment before nodding.

"Okay."

Keith pushed himself from the wall and started pacing, his sulk turning into anger.

"We were getting along and I thought he might actually want to be friends. He was being nice and he took care of me-"

Shiro stood from the wall and crossed his arms, trying to understand.

"Took care of you?"

Keith looked up, distractedly waving his hand.

"Yeah he patched me up after the mission. It seemed like he actually cared and then I told him he should just sleep in my bed if he was insisting on staying the night in my room."

"What?" Shiro looked so confused, unsure which detail to get worried or mad about. Keith had been hurt and hadn't told anyone but Lance? And they shared a bed? He wasn't exactly sure if he should be happy they had been getting along or mad that Keith had kept his injury quiet. Though he was obviously okay now.

Keith kept talking, oblivious to Shiro's mini mind explosion.

"And he started blushing and being all adorable and stupid and my bed was small so when I woke up he was hugging me and I was on top of him. And you know I don't really think things through and his hair was all messed up and somehow still completely cute and his freckles were so close and he was warm and he was staring at me with those big freaking moon eyes and….. so I kissed him."

Shiro shook his head, ignoring everything but the kiss part in order to preserve some of his sanity and concentrate.

"Okay so you two bonded and then you kissed him. Why is he avoiding you?"

Keith threw up his arms, exasperated.

"I don't know! He ran away after I kissed him, which, by the way, was reciprocated. He kissed me back! His hands were-" Shiro's eyebrows went up and his shoulders drew back in a clear 'mad dad' pose.

Keith raised his hands in a placating gesture.

"His hands were on top of my clothes in appropriate places but I'm telling you, he liked it. And then he literally pushed me off him and ran away."

Shiro was still trying to process everything.

"So now he's avoiding you?"

"Yes."

"Because you kissed him?"

"Yes."

The black paladin sighed. Teenagers were so complicated. When he was a kid this had all been so simple. You liked someone, you asked them out.

"Seems like the only thing to do here is to talk to him about it."

Keith considered it for a second before spinning and pacing in the other direction.

"Nope. He's an idiot and he'd just run away again."

Shiro suppressed a sigh and put on his most soothing and reassuring voice.

"Keith, I know it might be difficult but this is the only way to properly resolve the situation."

The kid shook his head again.

"He doesn't even want to sit near me at the table, how am I supposed to get him alone to talk to him about it? He'll just run away again."

Shiro stopped his pacing with a hand to his shoulder.

"I think Lance actually wants to more then he lets on. He's kind of like a con-man or a magician playing a crowd. He makes a big show of unimportant things to hide what's really going on."

Keith's eyebrows furrowed. "Like distracting and evading."

"Exactly. He flirts with every girl he sees because he doesn't want people thinking he actually has feelings for anyone. He pretends to know what he's doing, and acts arrogant about it when actually he's trying really hard to do his best, even when he knows his best isn't good enough. Lance hides his true emotions behind his performances so when you kissed him it might have been a little bit of a shock." The older man bent down a little to meet Keith's eyes.

"Talk to him or give him time but I think Lance ran because he does like you. If that makes sense at all."

Keith shrugged. "Lance hardly ever makes sense. But thanks."

Shiro smiled, relieved he had managed to help despite having no idea how to handle the situation.

"No problem, you know you can come to me about anything. Speaking of, why did you not tell me about getting hurt during the last mission?" He folded his arms and gave a stern glare to the younger boy who lowered his head and looked properly admonished.

"It wasn't that bad and I didn't even notice until Lance told me."

Shiro placed a hand on the kids back and pushed him to the infirmary.

"That doesn't make me feel better. Come on, I'll check it over."

"But really it's fi-"

"Wasn't a request."


	5. Chapter 5

Keith had officially decided that if Lance was going to be an ass about everything then he would be too. He knew it was petty but he couldn't help it and it sort of counted as flirting right? In like, a weird, aggressive sort of way?

Keith had tried to be reasonable and talk to him but every time he went near him the blue paladin ran off or acted as if nothing had happened. It was infuriating.

Hunk thought it was all hilarious of course, and because Hunk knew Pidge knew too. Keith had walked into the dining hall and accidentally bumped into Lance who was trying to balance three bowls of space goo in his arms. As the boy had been quickly trying to explain why he didn't need Keith's help carrying them Pidge had started playing some music over the castle speakers.

"And they called it puppy looooove."

Hunk almost fell off his chair laughing and Lance flushed a deep red, running to the table and hissing at Pidge to turn it off.

"I like this song." Keith had kept a straight (ha) face as he said this, glaring at Lance as the song played on. Lance was blushing so much Keith thought he might pass out if all the blood was in his face, but found it too satisfying to break eye contact before Lance embarrassingly muttered about liking the song too.

This went on for a few days and gradually Keith grew angrier, his passive aggressive comments becoming less passive and more aggressive.

"Hunk, why don't you and Lance go and check the perimeter over-"

"Why doesn't Hunk go and Lance stays. He's prone to running off you might want to keep an eye on him."

Shiro groaned while Lance scowled.

"Oh, shut up Kogane."

Keith raised his eyebrows, shocked Lance had actually spoken to him.

"Oh NOW you want to talk to me? Now I exist? Grow up Lance."

"Go fuck yourself Keith."

Shiro intervened, hands coming to rest on each of the boy's chests as they stepped closer together, air thick with tension.

"That is enough. You two are going to go check the perimeter together and act like Paladins. You are not children and I won't have you acting this way. You need to talk about what happened and sort this all out because we won't be able to form Voltron with you fighting.

Keith deflated, feeling slightly sick. Lance was looking at him with such hate. What had he done?

Lance threw Shiro's hand off him and stormed off. Keith sighed, grabbing his bayard and following after.

"Hey, Lance. Wait up."

Lance was muttering angrily as he walked around the castle. It was only training, learning what to do should they be attacked or shut out of their own castle like that one time when Lance almost died. So there wasn't a huge need to concentrate on what they were doing and Lance was already kicking at the dirt with his boots.

"Stupid fucking mullet man and his dumb ass-"

Keith allowed a meter or so swinging room, in case all the rage that was stiffening every muscle in Lance's body turned to action and he decided to punch him, and called to his team mate again.

"Lance… can we actually talk now? I'm really sick of you acting like a jack ass and ignoring me."

The boy flung his arms up but didn't turn around. "Oh I've been the ass! I was trying to be civil, you're the one that started acting all salty and shit."

"Yeah, well I get like that when I'm being ignored by someone I kissed."

Keith waited, watching as Lance lowered his arms and seemed to deflate, sighing and looking at the ground.

"Sorry. I know I've been acting stupid but… I don't know how to explain it."

Keith shrugged, still waiting for the other to turn around and look at him.

"Maybe you could start with why you ran away?"

Keith could see Lance wince, his shoulders tensing ever so slightly. The blue paladin turned, now looking out to the side so Keith could see his face without their eyes having to meet.

"….You surprised me."

Keith nodded, lowering his eyes as he apologized. "I'm sorry, I thought you felt the same as I did so I just went for it. I shouldn't have assumed; I should have asked first. I don't always think things through and I know that's not an excuse but I just-"

Lance waved his hands in front of himself, quickly interrupting. "No, no, no- I mean, yeah we probably should have talked about it first or something but I did feel the same. I do. I was just surprised."

Keith raised his eyebrows, waiting for further elaboration. Lance was facing him now and he blushed further every time their eyes met.

"I've liked you for a really long time. Like, garrison long, but I didn't actually realize I felt that way until that night when I was helping you. I have a lot of feelings and they're never in between. I either really like something or I hate it. And both those feelings are so intense I sometimes get them mixed up? It sounds stupid but I think when you kissed me it just freaked me out because I don't know what to do with it all."

Keith didn't understand most of the clumsy, rushed explanation but what he did understand was that Lance liked him. That was really all that mattered.

The red paladin stepped closer to his team mate, watching as Lance's eyes grew wide and he backed slightly towards the wall behind him.

"Talking to me about it would be a good start."

Lance nodded, letting out an awkward laugh.

"Yeah…Sorry. We're talking now though so.. progress?"

Keith couldn't help but smile a little at the boy's innocent expression. It was around dusk now and the suns last rays were igniting the tops of the boy's hair and making his dark skin shine with a soft glow.

"You don't have to overthink it. You like me and I like you, despite your many irritating quirks."

Lance huffed out a laugh and peeked up at Keith through his eyelashes as the red Paladin stepped closer. Lance's back was pressed against the wall now and Keith was so close Lance could feel each breath coming from him, soft puffs of air warming his neck and making his skin tingle.

Lance swallowed.

"So what do I do now?"

Keith's eyes flickered down to Lance's lips, as Lance's did the same, and bit his lip, pressing his chest against the others.

"Kiss me." Keith whispered, his words sending a pleasant shiver down Lance's spine, and without a seconds pause he dived.

Lance leaned forward the few inches of space between them, pressing his hungry mouth against Keith's soft lips. He tasted sweet and warm and Lance found his hands pressing against the small of Keith's back before he even realized he'd moved.

Keith had his fingers at the nape of Lance's neck, playing with the soft strands of hair as they pressed against each other in the low light.

When they finally came up for air Lance was smiling so widely he thought his cheeks might cramp, and he looked into Keith's smiling eyes.

"So are we like.. boyfriends now?"

Keith slipped his hand down from the boy's neck, taking his hand instead.

"If you want."

Lance nodded, eyes shining.

"I do. Yes, please, immediately."

Keith laughed, a small bubbling sound and Lance smiled wider at hearing such a beautiful sound come from the usually quiet boy.

"Did that kiss scramble your brain?" The fingers of his free hand came up to brush the fringe from Lance's forehead and the Pilot almost melted from the gesture.

"I think so."

Keith pulled on the boy's hand, tugging him from the wall to walk with him along the perimeter.

"Come on, lets walk it off then. We should probably do what Shiro asked us to do."

Lance followed the boy, unable to keep the bounce from his step or the smile from his face as they walked hand in hand. Keith was so calm about it all, though inside he was like melted butter, all happy and warm.

Lance and Keith walked around the castle's perimeter in comfortable silence, Lance only breaking the quiet to make Keith laugh.

"Hey babe?"

"Yeah?"

"Nothin', I just wanted to see if you'd respond to babe."

Keith laughed and shook his head. God, his boyfriends a dork.


End file.
